


plainsong

by evangelinerose



Series: Draco One Shots & Drabbles [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Reader-Insert, Romance, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-09 22:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20124610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evangelinerose/pseuds/evangelinerose
Summary: When a soulmate dies, a connection breaks. One last conversation is allowed, briefly, before they move on. But what if the last conversation is also the first?





	plainsong

He died, and she knew.

It hit her with such force that she staggered, feeling how the wind was knocked out of her like she had just fallen fifty feet from a broomstick.

She was alone, thankfully. She had been dueling with a Death Eater, and running for her life, and in the process had sprinted far, far away from the main scenes of the battle. When she had won, when she had triumphantly Stunned the Death Eater pursuing her, she had found herself in an eerily quiet part of the castle; where no screams, no crashes, no sounds of colliding spells could be heard, and she had been on her way back to the main battle to keep fighting when she had felt it.

Clutching at her chest with a strangled gasp, she stumbled to the wall and placed her trembling hand on it, doubling over to try and catch her breath. It was difficult, because she was already crying. Sobbing, really, the tears streaming down her cheeks and her entire body shaking with tremors.

He was _gone_. And she hadn’t even known him. Hadn’t even known she’d _had_ a soulmate.

She turned slowly, leaning back against the wall, but ended up unable to support herself and instead slid down to the floor, tucking her head to her knees to continue her irrational weeping that felt as if it were coming from nowhere.

The sadness seeped into her bones, choked her, but she couldn’t make sense of it nor could she _not_ feel it. All she wanted was for it to stop.

It was unfair to hurt this much for a person she hadn’t even known.

“It’s _you_,” she heard a voice say, quietly, and with a jolt of surprise, she looked up and about wildly, whipping out her wand in a fog of panic and alarm.

And that’s when she saw him. The blonde head, the pointed features, those gray eyes.

He was shimmering; he wasn’t a corporeal body, that much was certain. And she knew, instinctively, that he wouldn’t be here long. “Draco?” she murmured, stunned, and then struggled to her feet to draw closer, staring into his face. “Draco _Malfoy_?”

“Surprised?” he asked. He sounded bitter, but he looked sad. And his eyes were looking at her mournfully, his lips pursed the slightest bit. “Didn’t see it being me, did you?”

“I…”

No. No, she most certainly hadn’t thought her soulmate would have been Draco _fucking_ Malfoy. Pureblood elitist, ex Death Eater – a cold, arrogant bully.

Though, thinking back, she had to admit, this 7th year at Hogwarts, he had been different. Last year too, really. Quieter. No bullying. No picking on Muggleborns. Pale, and scared.

“I’m not so bad,” he continued, softly, looking a little strained, like he knew what she was thinking. “Not anymore, anyway. Grown out of some things, in the past year or two. Granted, you probably would still have had some kinks to work out with me. You know, if I would have lived.” He then quirked an eyebrow at her, scanning her face carefully. “Are you…crying for me?”

“Yes,” she mumbled, lips trembling uncontrollably. The word tumbled out before she could stop it.

He reached out with one of his hands, fingers outstretched toward her; automatically, like she was in a trance, pulled by some invisible force, she responded by reaching out with hers. She found that she _wanted_ to touch him, _wanted_ to be close to him, even if only for a few moments.

But she couldn’t. His hand just passed right through hers with a chill that almost hurt. Just like a ghost.

She let out a little choked sob again, and whispered brokenly, “But I don’t want you to die.” It shocked her, how true it was. There was a piece of herself fading, and it ached.

“Too late,” he said, sounding resigned. And then his eyes swept over her again, with a hint of curiosity. “I remember seeing you around school.” His eyes melted; became kinder. She had never seen them that way when he had been alive. “You seem brave. Smart. And you have a pretty smile.” He came a little closer; he looked a bit more solid, hovering this close to her face, though he still glowed ethereally, with a bright white light at his edges that made her eyes hurt and a few more tears escape, though really it also could have been because of what he was saying.

“It’s strange, after you die,” he continued, thoughtfully. “You just know things.” He tilted his head a little, a small, sad smile beginning to play on his lips. “Might sound strange to you now, but we were really going to be in love, Y/N. If we would have had the chance. I know that much.“

She closed her eyes, heart pounding painfully and a lump forming in her throat until she couldn’t swallow.

She wanted to hear it so badly. And she also didn’t.

"You can’t stay?” she whispered, already knowing the answer and hating it.

“No,” he said, softly. “But you go on without me, okay?”

“I don’t want to,” she confessed, feeling her chest finally crack and break open.

Soulmates were _terrible_.

He reached out with his hand again, desperately, trying to touch her cheek, but he had forgotten that he couldn’t, and his hand went through her head. She felt another chill as it swiped through her; and then she saw the white light around him getting stronger, brighter, until it was blinding.

“I wish I could touch you,” he murmured. “Just once, before I go…”

The white light intensified; she shielded her eyes, unable to see now, feeling suddenly more panicked than she had ever felt in her entire life. “Draco? _Draco_!” she half-shrieked, half-sobbed, reaching out for him unseeingly.

But she got no response; the light got so bright it was like standing by a supernova; and it burned, even under closed eyelids. And then it faded, slowly, until she could finally open them and peek up anxiously, scanning the corridor for the ghost of the boy she would have eventually come to love.

But he was already gone.

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a photo with the quote "He died, and she knew.” It quite literally haunted me for a day or two, and then this happened, and honestly I have no idea why because I am not generally into soulmate stuff? But hey, why not try it out and make it tragic AF, amirite? Thanks for reading!


End file.
